AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanted to thank you all for your reviews and inform you that sadly, this story has taken a turn for the worse and is consequently more than another twenty pages long, so there's going to be a few more epilogues of epilogues or whatnot and maybe a one-shot sequel. I dunno. But, this chapter is pretty bad. Not everything is peachy keen until the end, either. There's still a few more obstacles left for our couples. Ejoy.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine if it belongs to J. K. Rowling.

Mistaken Liaisons

Chapter Fifteen: Crossing the Boundaries

or

Chess, Anyone?

Somewhere in the middle of a fray that had started with Blaise nearly putting Colin's eye out with his camera, Ginny managed to stumble out, only slightly scathed by some old hag's long green nails. Blaise was right behind her as nearly everyone involved in the fight forgot who it was that started it and proceeded to trample Colin into nice fertilizer for the Parkinson's lakeside lawn.

"Ginny!" Blaise called, catching up to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, catching her at her elbows and looking her over for any signs of massive trauma. Ginny was snickering to herself. "Green fingernails at a wedding? That's too tacky to even be Slytherin."

Blaise just stared at her in shock and disbelief for a few seconds as he felt his old Ginny come back. "You're one weird kid, d'you know that?" he asked finally, with a surge of familiar warmth, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close with every intention on messing with her hair so horrendously that it would take centuries to untangle and in later generations would rival Hagrid's as the prime nesting grounds for the larger part of England's Niffler population.

Bad idea.

The second Blaise's arm went around her shoulders, he felt her body slide in next to his like two well-slicked pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He had never before noticed how absolutely perfect she was. Not just as a woman or a friend or a person, but how perfect she was for him. He wondered where this newfound sentimentality was coming from and whether or not it would continue through the rest of their lives…however they worked out. He hoped not…he didn't really like mushy feelings.

Ginny must have felt the same thing because her face went serious and she closed her mouth, trying not to blanche, but the second she looked up at him, she found she was unable to tear her eyes from Blaise's. "So…where now?" he finally asked, wondering why he had images of Hagrid and Nifflers running rampant in his head before they were completely squashed by the sudden naughty thought of just what he could do to her with the knowledge of the map of every single one of her sensitive spots. Tickling would never be the same.

His head cleared as Ginny let out a gasp and slid out of his arms. "Oh, fuck!" she exclaimed and Blaise was glad they were far from the elderly ladies of the wedding, who would most likely have carried Ginny off and made Blaise marry Pansy if they'd heard the string of curses that following, involving several interesting kitchen utensils, several gods, a few teachers, and a plethora of words in other languages that Blaise wasn't entirely sure he wanted translated.

Ginny turned to Blaise, a dawning expression on her face. "Oh, Blaise…" she trailed off and her face was so crestfallen that Blaise moved in to comfort her. He stopped, noticing that he had an arm protruding from his chest. He looked down to see that the fist embedded in his stomach was attached to one suddenly spit-fire-looking demon. "You stupid git!" she cried, socking him in the stomach again three more times.

Blaise caught her fists, somewhat winded. "What did I do this time?" he gasped. Ginny was struggling to hit him more, apparently having forgotten her pledge of eternal love not half an hour ago. "You bloody wanker, you didn't read my letters, did you?" Blaise rolled his eyes. "I thought we established that…after turning Pansy into a tomato and in front of many, many people I know and will hear from on this matter for years to come?"

Ginny glared at him, but stopped trying to pummel his face off. "I'm moving out of the country in two days, you nitwit!" she cried. "I finally got a job, but it's in Italy and I tried telling you, but you were holed up in Parkinson Central for too long, so I accepted and I'm leaving in two days, you buggering twit!" she cried, letting her body collapse against Blaise's in a feeble attempt to drive her skull through his chest.

Blaise sighed, rubbing her back as a sharp pain hit his chest that had nothing to do with her head. "I'm sure we'll figure something out." He said, knowing how much her job meant to her…finally having a steady job after being blacklisted for so long was something he knew she dreamed about as an independent woman. He would never be able to ask her to forsake it for him, especially so soon and when their relationship was as of yet still undefined.

"In the meantime…I can think of a few fun things we can do until then." He said, waggling his eyebrows. Ginny pulled away from him momentarily, her eyes wide and real fear shooting through them unexpectedly. "You want to shag?" she asked in surprise. The idea hadn't yet entered her mind yet. She was still trying to get used to the feel of him holding her as something more than a friend. The thought just struck her as if it were the most inconceivable thing in the world. Blaise had to let out a laugh, though he knew she'd probably kill him for it. "I thought that was pretty obvious with the whole proclamation of love thing." He chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before noticing her face was serious.

"I just didn't think you'd want to rush things…move so fast. I thought this was…different." The second the words left her mouth they sounded stupid and she wanted to suck them up and swallow them and Obliviate the hell out of Blaise. She sounded like one of those whiny, needy little bints that moped all over the place. She was about to turn away when she felt Blaise's finger tilting her chin up so she could face him.

"Get this, Gin. I love you. No matter if I shag you in twenty years when you're old and grey or if I throw you down and shag you right outside what was supposed to be my wedding. I want to make love to you…so much. I think it's been three years of waiting for me, oblivious git that I was. But I want you. You do realize that for the past few minutes, I've been steadily thinking of Snape and Trelawny in some highly imaginative situations solely for the fact that if I didn't, I'd have to throw you down right now in the middle of the day and shag your brains out so that you'll never be able to ride a broom properly again? But I can wait for you…with some serious constraint, at least. So in the two days before you have to leave me, we can play chess or talk about mushrooms or hex the snot out of each other or shag the life out of each other. I just want you. Whenever. I'd say I wanted you to be happy and love me as much as I love you, but I don't think I could do it with a straight face."

If anyone heard that declaration, they'd be in a puddle on the floor; a transformational process Ginny was trying to counteract as her knees were replaced with jelly in a sickeningly romantic way.

"Good. You're making me sick, Zabini. I don't need the heart-felt love declarations. By the way, whatever you've been thinking of apparently hasn't been working, and if any of those elderly ladies came out here, they'd die of shock, and I don't think they'd be as happy to see Blaise Jr. as apparently he is to see me."

Blaise swung his outer dress robes off and held them in front of him, going a little red at the ears.

"Oh, and I will not be old and grey in twenty years, you sot, though you will be if you ever get that romantic on me again. What do you say we head back to the apartment?"

Blaise smirked. "Chess, is it?" he asked, taking her hand in his and twining their fingers in a way that felt so right and yet so naughty as the back of his hand brushed against her thigh as they walked down the lane, discovering one of Ginny's fluffy white slippers on the way.

Before they Disapparated, Ginny turned to Blaise and pressed close to him, leaning in and kissing his jaw softly and consequently doing a world of damage to Blaise Jr.

"Chess can be so incredibly…orgasmic…if it's played the right way." She whispered suggestively, rubbing a hand up his chest and making him shudder, sending a thrill through her as she surged ahead and broke the bonds of friendship into something much more. "Well, Sparky. I never was that great at chess…you will teach me how to play properly, won't you?" he was surprised at how instantly his body reacted to just her words. This really had to be love.

Ginny smirked as she traced the edge of his ear with her nose, her eyes closed as his hair tickled her cheeks. "Oh…I imagine you'll get the…thrust…of it. It's not all that difficult once you get started."

"You wicked, wicked slut."

"Yeah, but I'm your wicked, wicked slut now and your only hope for how to learn 'chess', so you might as well get used to it. Come on Blaise, let's go home."

……….Fin………

……….(But Not Entirely!)………..